Yesterday we brought the golf cart home from the trailer park. Since it was a bit challenging to drive with the packing they put on my injured hand I had the Mrs. drive. I generally don't because it seems she's only capable of driving with one or the other pedal pressed to the floor.

A light went amber 1/2 mile from home and was one of those close calls. I'd thought she was going to go through it but at the last minute she jammed on the brakes. When we got home I could smell the brakes and two 1" tie downs were snapped. If it weren't for the front on the trailer the cart would have come into the truck.

I got some heavier duty tie downs today and I don't think I'll let her drive any more.

Yesterday we brought the golf cart home from the trailer park. Since it was a bit challenging to drive with the packing they put on my injured hand I had the Mrs. drive. I generally don't because it seems she's only capable of driving with one or the other pedal pressed to the floor.

A light went amber 1/2 mile from home and was one of those close calls. I'd thought she was going to go through it but at the last minute she jammed on the brakes. When we got home I could smell the brakes and two 1" tie downs were snapped. If it weren't for the front on the trailer the cart would have come into the truck.

I got some heavier duty tie downs today and I don't think I'll let her drive any more.

Steph used to drive like that. I taught her better. I told her I would take her car to the crusher if she didn't improve.

I usually try tofigure what it will take to lash down a load and then double it. As long as I've been hauling stuff I've thought to myself how terrible is would be to hurt someone because I got lazy tying down a load.

[quote name="MiCarl" post="713786" timestamp="1474318183"]Yesterday we brought the golf cart home from the trailer park. Since it was a bit challenging to drive with the packing they put on my injured hand I had the Mrs. drive. I generally don't because it seems she's only capable of driving with one or the other pedal pressed to the floor.

What is the deal with women and flooring it all the time? They flat foot the accelerator and then stand on the brakes. My mom doesn't do that but she brakes with her left foot. She swears she's not touching the pedal, but get behind her and the brake lights are gone. Daddy was always doing brakes. I blame their fathers for not teaching them better.

You guys got lucky. Hopefully she realizes what could have happened. A friend of mine gets upset at the distance I leave between me and the cars ahead of me. I always allow extra distance even when I'm empty and no trailer. Says I'm leaving too much space but with the people in today's world texting and talking on the phone instead of driving, I figure I need all of the advantage I can get.

It makes you think about anything that's unsecured and behind you in a vehicle. I know someone who had a hardened bag of cement come through the back window of a pickup during an accident. Good thing nobody was sitting in the middle. A snow blower attachment, floor jack, mower deck, etc., could leave with your head rolling down the pavement.

When I was a boy, a guy at church got killed in a car wreck when the bumper jack in his trunk came through the back seat and hit him in the head. Thirteen years ago my cousin was going home from work--he was a carpenter. He drove a full size Bronco. You know how carpenters, plumbers, Mason's and electricians trucks are. He ran off the road, got a little crossed up and in the process his circular saw in the back came up and hit him in the head. He was 41 and left four kids at home.

I know it's not always possible to tie everything down, but it does make you think twice.

In fairness to her it could have been tied down better. Normally I attach the tie downs to the suspension so they are pretty much parallel to the floor and pull mostly forward/backward. Because of my hand I had a friend help and we ran the straps up and over the cart - strapping it down rather than front/rear. When she jammed the brakes the cart had lots of leverage on the straps.

A friend was using my 20' trailer and went to change the height of the pintle hitch and this bolt snap as soon as he hit it with the air gun.Can't see in the pictures now but it was partially broken for some time.Glad that got found the easy way.

I had a buddy who hauled a 2000 F150 behind my 78 F350 dually, he tied it on the trailer with 2 500lb straps. When i seen that i about choked him. Luckly he was smart enough to run backroads at 25mph.

If im hauling anything substantial it gets 4 straps, 3500lbers, one one each axle and one on the front and back at some secure point (either frame, towhooks, reciver hitch, etc.). Never lost anything yet.

I just hauled a Dodge P/U home for a friend on his gooseneck tlr w/ his P/U. I borrowed 4 3/8" screw binders from another friend and used my chains, all 5/16" and cross chained to the axles. had no problems. Screw binders are the only way for me as you can cinch the load down tight and you don't have to wire the handles to the chains.

I just hauled a Dodge P/U home for a friend on his gooseneck tlr w/ his P/U. I borrowed 4 3/8" screw binders from another friend and used my chains, all 5/16" and cross chained to the axles. had no problems. Screw binders are the only way for me as you can cinch the load down tight and you don't have to wire the handles to the chains.

Mike

Generally we use the lever type binders, instead of wiring the handles we wrap the loose chain tight around it, it's not going to get free from that without a fight.

I get laughed at for how I tie things down, but I have never lost a load. I had a load of garage doors that I got from an installer. Nearly 5500 pounds of doors. Secured with 6 straps. The door guy said I didn't need more than 2. I got run off the road and up an embankment on the way home. Doors never moved. Trailer was up on 2 wheels atone point, but the doors were rock solid. (Tech tip - I used two extra straps - total of 8 - laid over the trailer from side to side before loading, then wrapped around the doors before they were strapped down - think burrito. At the scrap yard I connected the two straps with a chain and they lifted the chain with the grappler. Once the doors were on the ground the straps were unhooked and the grappler pulled the straps out. Turned an hour long job into a 30 second job)

Any full sized tractors get a minimum of 5 straps. One on each corner and one over the hood, can't have them blowing open.

Cars on the trailer get 2 straps if they have no wheels - one over the hood one over the trunk. With wheels they get 4.

I had a guy come to my house to get a van and he brought no straps at all. Loaded it up on a trailer and got ready to leave. I told him he was an idiot and he said it would stay. I told him to strap or I would block the driveway and he wasn't leaving. He pulled out 2 one inch straps. I sold him 2 of my oldest big straps.

Several years back a guy I knew borrowed his dads riding mower. He put it on a trailer with no straps. Lost the tractor at 60 MPH on a 2 lane road and it hit a car in the oncoming lane. Totaled the car. Tractor was unrecognizable as anything. Idiot was driving a company truck without permission. Lost his job. Company discovered he was selling company tools. Went to jail. Company got sued out the wazoo by the woman in the car.

I strap things the same way, get crap for it all the time, but have never lost a load.